Archive for February, 2016

An often overlooked but crucial aspect of eating the HumanaNatura way and following HumanaNatura’s OurPlate healthy eating guidelines are the important ecological advantages this approach has over other forms of modern eating, including many alternative dietary models.

Recently, I explored this idea in a Natural Truth post on NaturaLife, Vegetarian Ecology, and want to reprise this essential nutritional discussion here, retitled and modified slightly, for a broader audience.

In the end, and unsurprisingly once considered, the modern but highly naturalized or forager-oriented HumanaNatura approach proves potentially far more sustainable across the earth’s various ecosystems than other forms of contemporary eating. It does this by avoiding soil-degrading annual staple foods grown in unnatural monoculture formats, and instead promotes natural perennial food systems that are readily made fully sustainable.

These perennial food systems include free-ranged and attentively managed animal foods (meats, dairy, poultry, eggs, and fish), as well as sustainable fruit and nut-tree agriculture. And while HumanaNatura’s encouragement of diets rich in greens involves considerable annual plant food consumption, soil loss from this large-in-volume but low-in-calories aspect of the OurPlate model is easily offset via food waste composting and use as a lost soil replacement, even with just a portion of the other parts of the HumanaNatura diet.

If this topic interests you, what follows is a fairly straightforward and practical way of thinking about the complex phenomena that are the ecological impacts of our modern food production systems. Notably, I will largely leave aside questions of the personal health effects of these systems and the modern diets that rely on them, but you can explore this topic via a companion Natural Truth post, Green Over Red Diets.

To begin our discussion, I would point out that the ecological health effects of various human diets is an enormously complex topic, and an open scientific question today. As this recent science press article and underlying research paper highlight, the ecological impact of our dominant food systems is not an area of settled science, and there are many competing claims and counterclaims regarding the planetary effects of human eating and our corresponding systems of food production.

Part of this impasse owes to the high number of variables and conditions that must be considered when calculating the effects of our eating patterns on the planet’s ecology. Part of it stems from the fact that food system effects vary by ecosystem, by the types of technologies and agricultural practices used, and by the volume of food people eat on average (which can be influenced by cultural norms, technology, and even the composition of our diets).

To improve our understanding in the face of this complexity, researchers must make simplifying assumptions and limit the scope of their considerations. And it is in these simplifications that divergence begins, both directly in empirical findings and indirectly, as research findings are interpreted and used to advance or support various viewpoints.

Still, a fair reading and summation of available science assessing the ecological impacts of our primary food systems is possible, which I will attempt to provide in this discussion. As you will see, this effort leads to an outlook that is far more tentative, nuanced, and qualified than we often see in both the popular and scientific press. Read the rest of this entry »

With just a few humble ingredients, delicious, inviting, and extra-healthy Steam Meals can be made the HumanaNatura way and following HumanaNatura’s OurPlate healthy eating guidelines. And though HumanaNatura Steam Meals take just minutes to prepare, they reliably leave us feeling full and pleasantly satisfied for hours!

Our sample Steam Meal begins with ground turkey and an equal amount of shredded and then finely chopped cabbage and carrots, which are mixed together and formed into ~3cm (1in) meatballs by hand. In our steaming pan, a base is built of diced carrots, parsnips, white squash, shallot or onion, and garlic, along with cut asparagus, and on top of which the meatballs are placed. This base of veggies and protein are then steamed for about four minutes (we suggest using slightly less water than usual when steaming ground meats, since they are apt to release considerable amounts of water during cooking).

When the base and protein are nearly cooked, we add a generous handful of shredded cabbage and carrot, and a bit of sliced red bell pepper. The meal is steamed for an additional two minutes, with a small handful of chopped cilantro added near the end, and it is then allowed to sit off-heat for an additional two minutes. The meal is then plated and served promptly, after being garnished with splashes of soy sauce and sesame oil, a bit of black pepper, a scattering of sesame seeds, a handful of cut orange pieces, and a zigzag of chilli sauce. A terrific mix of healthy foods and flavors, sure to leave you wishing for more!

Learn more about creating naturally delicious, inviting, and nutritious meals like this via OurPlate, HumanaNatura’s simple natural eating guide for designing optimally healthy modern meals. Experience how this science-based and 100% natural approach to our daily meals can change the way you eat, feel, and live. Sharpen your skills at making delicious and naturally healthy Steam Meals via our Steam Meal Overview. And explore the science and key principles of optimal Natural Eating through HumanaNatura’s comprehensive Personal Health Program.

Once you have begun eating the HumanaNatura way, you can explore your many opportunities for new, more natural, and healthier life between meals – via HumanaNatura’s comprehensive four-part system for modern natural life and health. Check out the overview of our health techniques and programs at Welcome.

Greetings from HumanaNatura at the cross-quarter! In the natural year, we are now halfway between the more extreme time of the recent solstice and the more balanced period of the coming equinox. Everywhere on earth, there is early but unmistakable change – away from the depth of winter and height of summer in each hemisphere – an ongoing feature of life on earth that touches and can inform us all.

A Moment in the Everchanging Light and Rhythm of the Natural Year

In the HumanaNatura natural health system, and as explained in our Mastering The Natural Year graphic and post, we encourage extra progress on our Natural Life Plans around each cross-quarter. At the equinox-nearing cross-quarter, this is so we have adequate completed actions and learning at the equinox– in another six weeks or eighth of a year – when HumanaNatura encourages reflection and updating of our plans.

If you have not yet created a Natural Life Plan to guide your use and expression of the third HumanaNatura technique, Natural Living, our links will take you to our planning worksheets and seven-step planning process. Together, these resources will help you begin more intentionally health-centered and naturally progressive life in the days and weeks ahead.

Our newest member newsletter was released today as well, which is published eight times yearly in harmony with the natural year, providing updates on HumanaNatura’s resources, programs, and worldwide health campaigns. To receive future HumanaNatura newsletters or learn more about our global practitioner-advocate network, go to Join HumanaNatura.